A Hawthorne man arrested during a sting operation to curb sexual activity among men in a Manhattan Beach restroom has filed a $5 million federal lawsuit against the city and its Police Department, charging officers falsely targeted him and violated his civil rights by releasing his name and photograph to the media.

Charles Samuel Couch, 22, a caregiver for a mentally disabled boy at the time, alleges undercover officers wrongly targeted him March 9, 2011, as he sat in a changing area inside the restroom to wait for the child to use the bathroom.

At the same time, Manhattan Beach detectives were watching the restroom at Marine Avenue and The Strand, conducting an undercover operation to arrest men meeting for sexual encounters in stalls. Lifeguards had noticed men loitering in the restroom, and found holes drilled in stall partitions and graphic sexual images scrawled on walls.

Officers arrested 18 men, including Couch, and issued a controversial release to the news media on April 3, 2012. The press release included booking photographs of each man, along with their names and dates of birth.

“Plaintiff was shocked and horrified to discover that his photo was displayed on the Daily Breeze website, a local newspaper, with other persons in the sting operation,” the lawsuit said.

Couch immediately contacted the Daily Breeze to explain that he was acting as a caregiver at the time and had not been charged because of insufficient evidence. Police, however, explained that while the other 17 men were cited with misdemeanors, Couch remained under investigation for a possible felony charge of child endangerment. Ultimately, he was charged with two misdemeanor counts of obstructing police, allegations that were dismissed Aug. 16.

According to the lawsuit, Couch worked for Cambrian Homecare of Long Beach, providing care for a child with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by mental retardation and incomplete sexual development.

As Couch’s case developed in Judge Sandra Thompson’s Torrance courtroom, an expert testified earlier this year that the condition resulted in the boy frequently spending an abnormally long time using the restroom.

Couch and the boy were on a walk at the beach that day when the child asked to go to the bathroom. Couch also used the restroom, then sat on a bench to wait for the boy, the lawsuit said.

Manhattan Beach police Detective John Nasori entered, said “hello” to Couch, and walked into a middle stall. A few minutes later, the child bolted from the stall, rushed over to Couch and whispered, “There is a man looking at me in the stall!”

“Horrified, (Couch) said, “Let’s get out of here,” the lawsuit alleges. Nasori followed, the document alleged, and asked “Why are you leaving so quickly?” Couch told the boy, “Ignore him. Just keep walking.”

As they exited, five police officers “all in plainclothes and resembling thugs” stopped them, the lawsuit said.

Suspecting they wanted to kidnap the child, Couch grabbed the boy.

“He was tackled, choked and handcuffed,” the lawsuit said. “He was interrogated for several hours. He was accused of being sexually interested in other men, and asked if he would take his own little brother to a party to get ‘laid.’ ”

Police later confiscated Couch’s laptop computer, which contained his coursework for his classes at El Camino College. He was forced to withdraw, the lawsuit said. Nothing pornographic was found on the computer, the lawsuit said.

Couch never was charged with any sex-related crime, but 11 months later faced two misdemeanors for obstructing police.

Couch’s attorney, San Francisco-based Bruce Nickerson, did not return phone calls. His website says he has 30 years of experience involving issues of gay rights, police entrapment, Internet stings and discriminatory sex registration.

The lawsuit filed Oct. 11 alleges Couch suffered a violation of his civil rights, false arrest, loss of earnings, and public humiliation. Named as defendants are the city of Manhattan Beach, Police Chief Eve Irvine and five officers.

At the time the Manhattan Beach police flier was released, national gay rights organizations criticized the media for publishing it, citing discrimination.

Larry Altman has covered crime and court proceedings in Southern California since 1987. A graduate of Cal State Northridge, where he served as editor of the college newspaper, Altman has worked for the Daily Breeze since 1990. The Society of Professional Journalists named him a "Distinguished Journalist" in Los Angeles in 2006. Altman's work was featured twice on CBS' “48 Hours” and he appeared eight times with “Nancy Grace," who called him "dear." He has covered hundreds of homicides and many trials. Altman has crawled through a mausoleum to open a coffin, confronted husbands who killed their wives, wives who killed their husbands, and his coverage helped put a child molester and a murderer in prison. In his spare time, Altman is an avid Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers fan, is the commissioner of a Fantasy Baseball league with several other current and former newspapermen, runs a real estate empire and likes to watch old movies on TCM.